What We're Playing: Get Even N. Sane

One of FarmVille's managers created an app to get fresh, chemical-free fish to consumers in India. Candy Crush is now a TV game show, where contestants are strapped into a harness, jumping, sliding, and kicking their way across two video walls for a weekly $100,000 prize. And, sorry, but the Journal of Neuroscience isn't finding a correlation between brain-training games and your brain actually improving memory or decision-making.

What are you playing?

Patrick Aloia, Staff Writer, @PatchesAlohaSo I played Get Even all weekend. It was for a review, so I definitely went into that game with a certain lens, but I came out probably how I already would have. It's a game that succeeds in many ways, but the ways that it fails are really interesting to me because they speak to something that excites and bothers me about a lot of games. The game never needed any kind of gunplay, but the way it did it was actually pretty interesting, if poorly executed. And I'm looking at this game, and this obviously talented team that made it, and you know they have clear interests as creators, but they stretch themselves thin because of this larger ambition. Get Even is a good psychological thriller, but the game's desire to expand beyond its strengths is admirably foolhardy.

I'm also...still playing PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Can't put the game down. It's intoxicating, and I finally did duo play and I loved it and can't wait to try group play.

Sean Colleli, Staff Writer, @scolleliI'm actually headed back into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. My fiance is enthusiastic about beating the rest of the shrines, so we're both powered up to do the Trial of the Sword DLC. I might also dip into my Virtual Console folder to finish Metroid: Zero Mission for the umpteenth time in anticipation of Metroid: Samus Returns coming up in September. My PC is in the shop anyway, so it's a good excuse to focus on console gaming this weekend.

Chapel Collins, Staff Writer, @ChapelCollinsI'm still a few weeks shy of getting a new computer, so I imagine my weekend will be spent largely playing Total War: Shogun 2 on the lowest settings, dreaming of the day it's Total War: Warhammer on the highest. Or high-ish, anyway. Maybe I'll try out that Elder Scrolls mod for Medieval II: Total War, but in my experience so far, it's hard to go back to games before Shogun 2 once you've played the ones after it.

Dan Colonna, Staff Writer, dcolonna@gamingnexus.comPokémon Omega Ruby continues to cement me as a life-long Pokémon Trainer. My quest to catch all of the game's legendary beasts has come to a close, leaving me to consider completing Hoenn's Regional Pokédex. Although it seems like a large undertaking, I own both Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire—giving me access to this generation's full roster of monsters. So, why not? Stay tuned! Beyond that, I've been inching my way through a career as a Trader in Elite Dangerous on the PlayStation 4. While the life of shipping goods to and from locations is profitable, I'll be shaking up my experience by outfitting my current ship as a fighter. Space pirates, look out...this trucker's changing careers.

Kinsey Danzis, Staff Writer, kdanzis@gamingnexus.comAfter I watched a few old episodes of Monster Factory, I decided to jump back into Fallout 4—or I would have, if my game wasn't entirely inaccessible and unable to load. As a consolation prize I decided to get back into Hitman instead. I tried to load the Showstopper level to refresh myself on the controls, but I somehow managed to load Sapienza instead (which I'd never played), which resulted in me blundering around the level for two hours because I was too stubborn to restart after I compromised disguise after disguise. I can only imagine that after I spend two months fooling around in this level, the rest of the game will go the same way.

Dave Gamble, Staff Writer, dgamble@gamingnexus.comGot myself into a bind with Sniper Elite 4—failing to find and kill the radio operator brought on waves of reinforcements that now out number my ammo levels. It's time to restart the level, but I hate repetition. I'll just shelve it and come back to it in a few months.

For now, though, I'm back into Project CARS. I think the only Steam game that I've racked up more hours in is The Golf Club. Project CARS 2 is coming out soon, so I'm a little worried that the sequel will be as hideous as The Golf Club 2 is, but there was more to fix in Project CARS. Odds are it will be an improvement, plus I've always felt that there should be some oval tracks. The new release will have more retro era cars in it, and that can only be for the good—they are a lot more challenging than the modern high aero downforce cars. At least that's what I tell myself on the frequent occasions when I spin off into the grass.

Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, rkalista@gamingnexus.comReally Bad Chess is really good chess. Picture a regular setup on a chess board. Now take your arm and swipe all those pieces onto the floor. Replace them with a completely random assortment of pieces. On any given match, you could have a front row full of knights and bishops, followed by a couple pawns, a handful of rooks, your king, and no fewer than three queens. There's no balance whatsoever—your opponent's setup is random, too. Really Bad Chess makes me examine the board in ways I haven't done since I was a kid. Your memorized opening moves have no power here.

And then there's RimWorld. I've played 30 hours in the past two weeks, and the only thing I can think about is getting home for lunch so I can fit in another half an hour. The continuing adventures of our crash-landed colonists, Chuck, John, and Randy (no relation) have me tuned in like a daytime soap. That is, if it was a daytime soap set in a construction and survival sim. Last we saw them, Randy had both his eyes crushed when a roof collapsed on him for the third time, Chuck threw up in the river when he escorted a battered and bloody raider into the very comfortable cave prison, and John was pistol hunting a pack of alphabeavers eating up every tree in the region. Hold on, I'm watching a new episode of As the RimWorld Turns.

Nicholas Leon, Staff Writer, nleon@gamingnexus.comI bought Hitman during an Independence Day sale, and I have been having a blast with it. It is deceptively complex in its simplicity, and I have never had to think so much for a stealth game. It is definitely an improvement over Hitman: Absolution. My only complaint is that I've already beaten it. Of course, it does have a ton of replay value, which is why I'll be playing it this weekend. There's still a lot to do, especially with challenges created by the game's community. As a side note, if I can bear the pain, I'll be exploring more of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, as well.

Kevin O’Connell, Staff Writer, koconnell@gamingnexus.comI decided to replay Civilization Revolution and had the best run I've ever had. Downloaded a Civ 2 game as well for some nostalgia. Tried to also just sit and not attack—and that turned extremely un-good quickly! Playing Superhot (not VR) challenges in between for the heck of it. Not sure where I'm going from here.